China's Major Oil Company Needs More Overseas Funds

BEIJING, August 2 (Xinhua) -- China National Petroleum (Group) Corp (CNPC) will further solicit overseas capital for some projects regarding oil exploration, refining and pipe laying.

A spokesman for CNPC was quoted by Monday's China Daily as saying that the company is carrying out project appraisals and conducting negotiations with foreign counterparts.

The CNPC has been stressing the exploration of natural gas in central China, looking for rich oil reserves in east China, and trying to achieve significant discoveries when prospecting in west China.

It has designated 24 oil refining facilities for technical upgrading this year, and will complete the upgrading of some reforming units and hydroprocessing lubricating oil and diesel hydrogenating facilities, the newspaper said.

In the first half of this year, CNPC produced 53.4 million tons of crude oil, an increase of 351,000 tons over the same 1998 period, and processed 35.5 million tons of crude oil. Production of natural gas surged 10 percent year-on-year to hit eight billion cubic meters.

Sales revenues in the period totaled 164.3 billion yuan (about 19.8 billion US dollars).

Since June this year, CNPC has taken forceful measures to streamline its operations and establish a management system in line with international standards. Its five subsidiaries have begun to implement their restructuring plans, too. As many as 49 enterprises operating under CNPC are following suit to reorganize their corporate structures, according to the newspaper.